
When Should You Apply Moisturizer
It’s called a skincare routine for a reason, there is an order and sequence to the application of products. Of course this article is about the application of different facial moisturizers which you can find here, and this system wasn’t created out of a whim, but with logical reasoning behind it. A basic routine is pretty simple: face wash, toner, then face moisturizer. Obviously face wash and toner will come early in the routine because it cleanses your face, but once you add serums, oils, and other skincare products to your routine, where does the facial moisturizer fit in?
As we mentioned earlier: face wash, toner, then face moisturizer. Your sunscreen comes last in the daytime, under your makeup. What happens to the sequence when you add serums? It’s actually still pretty similar: face wash, toner, serums from thinnest to thickest in consistency, then your moisturizer, even if your moisturizer is as thin as the grüum kåre Hydrating Daily Moisturiser, it comes after your serums!. The eye cream comes after the moisturizer, but before your UV protection products in the morning.
What if your moisturizer has SPF in it like the Perricone MD Vitamin C Ester Photo-Brightening Moisturizer Broad Spectrum SPF 30? It still goes under a true SPF 50 sunscreen. Here’s where there’s a slight debate: What if you have spot correction treatments?
There are discussions and different schools of thought as to where moisturizers go when spot treatments are thrown into the mix. Some people say that you should apply corrective treatments over your moisturizer so that you don’t risk spreading it around the rest of your face. Others say that you should apply your spot treatments right after your toner to increase the effectiveness of the product, and you work around it when applying your serums and moisturizers. There are merits to both ways, so here, the order is up to your discretion. Just make sure that your moisturizer does not have active ingredients that will combat your treatments or you can use a neutral moisturizer like the Patchology Aqua Flash Hydrating Cream to keep on the safer side and allow those specialized formulas to do their thing.
Here is one rule of thumb though, when applying any kind of moisturizer to the skin: it works best when your skin is slightly damp. Let the toner or serum you applied sink into your skin just enough so your face is no longer wet, and then slather on that moisturizer!
Moisturizers are made to help hydrate and replenish the moisture in the skin. This doesn’t mean that if you have oily skin, you get to skip moisturizer altogether. Keeping your skin properly hydrated actually helps decrease your skin’s oil production. Staying away from moisturizers could be causing your glands to compensate for the lack of hydration, causing your face to get oilier. You could try Skin Lab’s Hydrate & Replenish Hydra Moisturizer if you feel like lotions and creams are too heavy for your skin type.
If you like having a different moisturizer consistency for different times of the day, a nice thick cream moisturizer like Nuxe’s Creme Fraiche De Beaute 48-Hr Moisture SOS Rescue Mask offers hydration that won’t wipe off on your pillow but is rich enough to keep your skin nice and supple til the next day.
If that’s too much information, but you can break it down to moisturizers will always be most safely positioned as one of the last two steps in your routine.
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